And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the
month, that the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man,
because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha! she is broken
that was the gates of the people; she is turned unto me; I shall be
replenished, now she is laid waste: Therefore thus saith the Lord
God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations
to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her
towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the
top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the
midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it
shall become a spoil to the nations. And her daughters which are in
the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am
the Lord. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon
Tyrus Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the
north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and
companies, and much people. He shall slay with the sword thy
daughters in the field; and he shall make a fort against thee, and
cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee. And
he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he
shall break down thy towers. By reason of the abundance of his
horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the
noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when
he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is
made a breach. With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all
thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong
garrisons shall do down to the ground. And they shall make a spoil
of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise; and they shall
break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses; and they
shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the
water. And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the
sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. And I will make thee like
the top of a rock; thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou
shalt be built no more: for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the
Lord God (verses 1-14).
The City of Tyrus (which means rock) was partly built upon an island off
the mainland in the Mediterranean Sea. It was an ancient Phoenician city
and is mentioned in Scripture for the first time in Joshua xix:29, where
it is called "The strong city." It had a wonderful commerce, a
description of which in its variety, we find in the twenty-seventh
chapter. It was inhabited by seafaring men, and the prophet Isaiah
describes this wealthy and influential city as "the crowning city, whose
merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth"
(Isaiah xxiii:8). We read in the next chapter how Syria, Persia, Egypt,
Spain, Greece and every quarter of the ancient world laid their choicest
and most precious things at the feet of Tyre, who sat enthroned on
Ivory, covered with blue and purple from the isles of Elishah. Her
beauty was perfect (Ez. xxvii:11). During the reign of David and
Solomon, Tyre came into great prominence, playing an important role in
the commercial, political and religious history of Israel. Hiram, King
of Tyrus sent cedar trees to Jerusalem, as well as workmen, who built
David a house (2 Sam. v:11). How Tyrus aided in the construction of the
temple and the palace under Solomon's reign, may be learned by
consulting the following passages: 1 Kings v:1-12; vii:13-14; 1
Chronicles xiv:1; 2 Chronicles ii:3, 11. When the ships of Solomon
sailed away to Ophir, "Hiram sent in the navy his servants, ship-men
that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon, and they
came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty
talents, and brought it to King Solomon" (1 Kings ix:27-28). The Tyrians
were great voyagers, the masters of the sea, and founded colonies,
among them Carthage. Israel's close relations with Tyrus continued
probably for centuries. The wicked wife of King Ahab, Jezebel, was the
daughter of Ethbaal, King of Tyre. She fostered successfully the vile
Phoenician idolatry among Israel. Tyre also sent messengers to King
Zedekiah, probably to form an alliance against the approaching
Babylonian conqueror (Jere. xxvii:3). She was a proud, luxurious and
wicked city, which defied God. She sinned against Jerusalem and the
people Israel. Joel and Amos speak of her sins (Joel iii:4-6; Amos
i:9-10) and announced her judgment. So did the prophet Isaiah (chapter
xxiii) and Jeremiah (xlvii:4). Ezekiel gives us the completest
description of this city, her resources, her luxuries and far reaching
influence, her King under Satanic control and also the details of her
judgment.
In the third verse of our chapter we read the divine announcement of
Tyre's fate. "Behold I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many
nations to come up against thee, as the sea causes its waves to come up.
And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers; I
will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a
rock." It was to become a place for the spreading of nets and a spoil to
the nations. This great judgment was not all at once carried out.
Nebuchadnezzar came first against her as predicted in verses 7-11. He
besieged the Tyre on the mainland and after thirteen years took the
city; while that part of Tyrus which was built upon the island in the
sea, protected by the fleet of Tyrus, escaped. Then came for her seventy
years when she was forgotten, as predicted by Isaiah (xxiii:15). After
these years had passed Tyrus saw a startling revival. The island city
became more powerful and wicked than before, "she committed fornication
with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth" (Is.
xxiii:17). The continental Tyrus, however, remained in ruins.
Centuries passed and it seemed as if Ezekiel's prophecy concerning
Tyre's complete overthrow would remain unfulfilled. It was about 240
years after when the literal fulfillment of this prophecy was
accomplished. Alexander the Great came against the city built on the
island. After seven months the city was taken by means of a mole, by
which the forces of Alexander could enter the city. In constructing this
mole, Alexander made use of the ruins of the old city. The stones,
timber and the very dust of the destroyed city was laid into the sea to
erect the causeway which accomplished the utter ruin of the wealthy
city. And thus Ezekiel's prophecy was fulfilled. "And they shall lay thy
stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water." The
complete end of Tyrus had come. "And thou shalt be no more, though thou
be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again" (verse 21). So
completely was the work done by Alexander, depositing the debris of the
ruins of Tyrus on the mainland into the sea, that its exact site will
remain undeterminable. And Alexander the Great fulfilled still another
prophecy. Before he came on his mission, directed by God, to make an end
of the proud and wicked city, Zechariah, the great post-exilic prophet,
had once more announced the fate of Tyrus. "And Tyrus," said the Lord
through Zechariah, "did build herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver
as the dust, and fine gold as the ruin of the sheets." This was after
Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the Tyrus on the mainland and she became
the great island city. "Thus," said Zechariah, "behold, the Lord will
cast her out, and He will smite her power in the sea, and she shall be
devoured with fire" (Zech. ix:3-4). Alexander did this; he laid proud
Tyrus in ashes.
What an evidence that all these words are the Word of God! God looks to
the fulfillment of all He revealed to His prophets. It may appear often
as if visions were in vain and prophecies remain unaccomplished. God
does not need to be in a hurry; He can afford to take His time. But
finally every prophecy contained in the Holy Scriptures will be
fulfilled. Proud and boasting, like Tyrus, are the great nations of our
age. Wealth and luxuries are seen on all sides and with it moral evil
and every form of wickedness. Judgment is surely in store for the
nations that forget God. As we know from the book of Revelation this
present age will culminate in the formation of Babylon the Great. Much
in Revelation xviii reminds us of Tyrus in this chapter of Ezekiel and
the next chapter.